The Department of Justice, via a complaint unsealed on Wednesday, released new information about Iranian plots to assassinate senior Trump administration officials on U.S. soil — apparently as retribution for the 2020 strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
Describing a brazen plot for National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to be assassinated in the United States, the Justice Department complaint paints a picture that's almost Cold War-esque, reminiscent of a time when the nation's capital was crawling with enemy agents tracking U.S. officials.
Per the Justice Department, the plot involving an Iranian identified as Shahram Poursafi unfolded between October 2021 and April 2022:
According to court documents, on Oct. 22, 2021, Poursafi asked Individual A, a U.S. resident whom Poursafi previously met online, to take photographs of the former National Security Advisor, claiming the photographs were for a book Poursafi was writing. Individual A told Poursafi that he/she could introduce Poursafi to another person who would take the pictures for $5,000-$10,000. Individual A later introduced Poursafi to an associate (referred to in court documents as the confidential human source or CHS).
On Nov. 9, 2021, Poursafi contacted the CHS on an encrypted messaging application, and then directed the CHS to a second encrypted messaging application for further communications. Poursafi offered the CHS $250,000 to hire someone to “eliminate” the former National Security Advisor. This amount would later be negotiated up to $300,000. Poursafi added that he had an additional “job,” for which he would pay $1 million.
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The additional job is believed to be the assassination of Trump's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Former Pompeo aide and State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus confirmed that fact on Twitter:
For months, Iran's gunmen have been walking around the streets of DC stalking John Bolton.
— Morgan Ortagus (@MorganOrtagus) August 10, 2022
DOJ's indictment says Iran wanted to assassinate another top U.S. government official.
I can confirm the second target is former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.https://t.co/7PBdgf86Wj
The Iranian plot continued with the subject of the DOJ's complaint providing information to the confidential human source that apparently would only have been accessible from other Iranian assets already in the Washington, D.C. area:
On Nov. 14, 2021, the CHS asked Poursafi for help locating the former National Security Advisor. Poursafi subsequently provided the CHS with the target’s work address in Washington, D.C. According to results from the search of one of Poursafi’s online accounts, on Nov. 25, 2021, Poursafi took screenshots of a map application showing a street view of the former National Security Advisor’s office. One screenshot noted that the address was “10,162 km away,” which is the approximate distance between Washington, D.C. and Tehran, Iran.
On Nov. 19, 2021, Poursafi told the CHS that it did not matter how the murder was carried out, but his “group” would require video confirmation of the target’s death. The CHS asked Poursafi what would happen if the killing was attributed to Iran. Poursafi told the CHS not to worry and that Poursafi’s “group” would take care of it.
Poursafi also advised the CHS to communicate about the plot in construction and building terms. For example, when the CHS asked Poursafi to specify how the murder was to be carried out, Poursafi told the CHS that he only asked the CHS to build a structure, but the method of construction was up to the CHS.
On Dec. 22, 2021, Poursafi sent the CHS a photograph of two plastic bags, each of which appeared to contain bound stacks of U.S. currency and a handwritten note beneath them that said, “[CHS’s name] 22.12.2021”.
On Dec. 29, 2021, Poursafi asked the CHS when the murder would be carried out and informed the CHS that his “group” wanted it done quickly.
In another instance during the course of the investigation that suggested Iran had other assets working in D.C. monitoring high-ranking officials, the confidential human source sent his Iranian contact, Poursafi, public information showing Bolton was leaving D.C. at the time the assassination was supposed to occur. Then after saying he needed to "check something," Poursafi told the confidential human source that Bolton was not traveling and supported the claim with specific schedule information that was not public at the time.
Meanwhile, Iran was conducting surveillance of its second U.S. government target:
On Jan. 21, 2022, Poursafi told the CHS that after successful completion of the first “job,” he had a second “job” for the CHS and informed the CHS that surveillance of the second target was complete. Poursafi said the information was gathered “from the United States,” not “via Google,” indicating someone working on behalf of the IRGC-QF had already conducted pre-operational surveillance on the second target in the United States.
On Feb. 1, 2022, Poursafi told the CHS that if he/she did not eliminate the target within two weeks, the job would be taken from the CHS. He also informed the CHS that someone checked the area around the former National Security Advisor’s home, and he believed there was not a security presence, so the CHS should be able to “finish the job.”
On March 10, 2022, Poursafi told the CHS he had another assassination job for the CHS in the United States, but to “keep [the former National Security Advisor] in the back of your mind.” Approximately one month later, Poursafi encouraged the CHS to accept this offer, explaining that if it was done successfully, Poursafi would be able to ingratiate himself with his “group” and regain the tasking to murder the former National Security Advisor.
Ortagus noted that while Iran was trying to assassinate former U.S. government officials, the Biden administration was in active negotiations — through Russia — with Iran on a revived version of the failed nuclear deal. Still, now that the plot has become public, the White House is playing coy:
Even in light of this news, the Biden administration says they won't end the nuke talks, and they will only respond ONCE Iran kills one of our former officials.
— Morgan Ortagus (@MorganOrtagus) August 10, 2022
THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. We cannot simply wait around for Iran to murder our leaders.
The Biden administration needs to call off the talks in Vienna until the assassination plots end.
— Morgan Ortagus (@MorganOrtagus) August 10, 2022
They need to kick out the Iranian Interests Section in DC immediately and reimpose strict travel restrictions on Iranian "diplomats" in NYC.
This should have happened MONTHS ago.
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